Machine for packing crackers



(No Model.)

J. MGGLURG.

MACHINE FOR PACKING GRAGKERS, No. 320,946. Patented June 30, 1885.

N. PETERS, Phalolilhugnphar. Wax-hmmmV D. CV

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

JAMES MCCLURG, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR PACKING CRACKERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,946, dated June 30, 1885.

Application fned october 13, 1853. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES MCGLURG, of the city of Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Packing Crackers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to devices for arranging crackers, snaps, biscuits, &c.,so that they may be easily and rapidly packed in boxes; and it consists, mainly, in combining with a traveling endless apron or carrier and guidehopper detachable cylindrical pockets or receptacles, wherein the articles assemble in stacks, which detachable cylindrical pockets may be removed with their contents for the purpose of transferring the crackers to and arranging the same in boxes or packages; and it consists, secondarily, in detachable cylindrical pockets formed in sections and separable longitudinally, to facilitate the orderly removal of the -crackers or contents of said pockets, all as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I will now describe my invention so that others skilled in the art may manufacture and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of my irnprovement. Fig. 2 isa side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a section ofthe pipes or cylinders detached.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts wherever they occur.

In Figs. l, 2, and 3 of the drawings, a represents a table, at the ends of which rollers b b are mounted in suitable bearings. Mounted on these rollers, and extending from one to the other, is an endless band or apron, c, of cloth, rubber, or other suitable material.

Keyed to one end of the roller b is a bandwheel, d, by means of which power is applied to the roller. At the other end of the table,

beyond and slightly below the roller b', is a hopper or fence, e, having inclined sides or faces, which serve to direct vthe crackers into the vertical cylinders, which arrange or stack the crackers in columns.

Extending from the bottom of the hopper e vertically downward are pipes or cylinders f, closed at their lower end, and having a flange or leaf, f', at their upper ends, which ends are open, by means of which flanges they are suspended from the bottom of the hopper. These pipes or cylinders, the diameters of which correspond with the article to be packed, are divided vertically in two equal sections, which sections are held together by suitable hooks or clamps, or by being placed within the hopper.

Instead of forming the sections of the several pockets or cylinders in separate pieces, I prefer to have the corresponding sections of the separate cylinders united laterally at their edges and by a continuous flange, f, in rows or series of four or more. These pipes or cylinders are preferably formed of light sheet metal, such as galvanized or tinned sheetiron.

The operation is as follows: Power having been applied to the roller b, the upper fold of the apron c is caused to move toward the hopper e. rlhe crackers, snaps, or biscuit, as they are brought or delivered* from the oven, are placed on the apron, and are carried thereby to the end of the table, when they fall into the hopper, and, being guided bythe inclined sides of the hopper, pass thence into the pipes or cylinders, one upon the other, and arrange themselves in the form of a co1- umn. As the cylinders are made to conform with the shape of the crackers to be arranged and packed, the crackers lie evenly and orderly therein. When the cylinders become filled, they are removed from the hopper, placed in a horizontal position, and the upper section removed from the lower, leaving the crackers arranged in orderly rows, face to face, in the lower sections. The crackers are then removed from the sections of the cylinders and placed in suitable packing-boxes.

`By my invention the crackers are rapidly arranged in orderly rows or columns in the sections of the cylinders.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In a machine for arranging crackers, Src., for packing, the combination of an endless traveling apron or carrier, a guide-hopper ar- IOC,

separable pockets or receptaclesfor crackerpacking machines, having all the semi-cylindrical sections on a side united laterally by 15 a ange or face plate, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 8d day 0f October, A. D. 1883.

JAMES MOCLURG.

Witnesses:

W. B. CoRWIN, JNO. K. SMITH. 

